Dec. 7, 2007

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PITTSBURGH - West Virginia's Olayinka Sanni scored a personal-best 29 points to lead #13 West Virginia to a 91-64 victory Friday night at the Palumbo Center.

Kristi Little led the Dukes with 18 points and Samantha Pollino added 16 for Duquesne who dropped their first home game of the season and fell to 5-4 overall.

Sparkle Davis and Meg Bulger added 14 points each for the Mountaineers (8-1), who won their fifth game in a row. Chakhia Cole had 13 points and LaQuita Owens 10.

Duquesne hung tough with West Virginia in the first half, as a Little layup at the 16:33 mark gave DU their largest of the game at 12-7. The teams would go back-and forth the entire half, as the game would be tied eight times and the lead changed hands a total of 12 times. With 13 seconds remaining, Davis' 3-pointer closed out the first half scoring and gave the Mountaineers a 42-38 halftime lead.

The Mountaineers, whose lone loss this season was against #1 Tennessee, outscored Duquesne 18-8 during the first 6:04 of the second half to take a 60-46 lead. A Little 3-pointer with 11:08 remaining got the Dukes within seven points, 65-58, but a 12-0 WVU run halted any chance of a DU comeback as Sanni's jumper gave the Mountaineers a 77-58 advantage with 8:11 to play.

West Virginia continued to dominate as they outscored Duquesne 14-4 the rest of the way, taking a 91-64 victory back to Morgantown.

West Virginia, which was 37-for-68 (54.4 percent) from the field and hit 9-of-14 shots from 3-point range. The Mountaineers also were 8-for-9 from the foul line and forced 18 Duquesne turnovers while outrebouding the Dukes, 35-25.

The Dukes have eight days off to prepare for finals. They return to the court Dec. 16 to take on IPFW for a Sunday afternoon matinee. Tip time is 3:00 p.m.